So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone to find out that I’m a stargazer – a casual one, not one who knows everything there is to know about every star in the galaxy, but who enjoys it nevertheless … along with playing amateur photographer when it comes to sky high events like the recent lunar eclipse, where I tried and bombed miserably at photographing it (scroll).

I brought this up because the Hubble Space Telescope just celebrated it’s 18th anniversary last week and NASA released some 59 HST photographs of “merging galaxies.” This one in particular I found stunning:

Caption: NGC 6050/IC 1179 (Arp 272) is a remarkable collision between two spiral galaxies, NGC 6050 and IC 1179, and is part of the Hercules Galaxy Cluster, located in the constellation of Hercules. The galaxy cluster is part of the Great Wall of clusters and superclusters, the largest known structure in the universe. The two spiral galaxies are linked by their swirling arms. Arp 272 is located some 450 million light-years away from Earth and is the number 272 in Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.

Schweet. Kinda romantic-looking, ain’t it? Looks invigorating, too – can you imagine being the captain of your own private spaceship and flying into outer space to view something like that? It would totally rule. And if there happened to be a sizeable, inhabited land mass nearby, ‘twould be an ideal place to perfect my Jedi mind trick powers, too, since they don’t seem to work too well with the moonbats we have here on Earth …

Ok – time for me to say hello to some shut-eye. Friday’s going to be another busy day for me, so please utilize this as an open thread until I return tomorrow afternoon or evening. Also, I’ll be home most of the weekend, and will try to make up for some of the blogging I missed this week.

TGIF, all, and g’nite.

(Note: I do not find the term “geek” insulting when I use it to describe someone – including myself. I wear it like a badge of honor )

“This is a test of leadership for John McCain. If he can’t pick up the phone and make members of his own party stop airing a television ad he claims to oppose, how can he lead our country through an economic crisis or the war in Iraq? After shifting his positions on gun control, immigration and tax cuts throughout this campaign, McCain should not equivocate on this issue. Making a show of releasing your emails to the press is not leadership. If he is serious, he will get this ad pulled.”

In addition to Geraghty’s quotes which prove Dean is a flaming hypocrite on this issue, here’s one from back in February that I wrote about:

Howard Dean showed up to talk about Black History Month but the focus quickly changed to politics Tuesday night in ICC Auditorium.

The Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and former Governor of Vermont contrasted the two parties’ presidential candidates, saying that with a woman and an African-American as the two front-runners, the Democratic field “looks like America” while the all-white male Republican field “looks like the 1950s and talks like the 1850s.”

Dean wants to talk about McCain’s “lack of leadership” on this issue, but that is an absurd accusation considering the decades of Democrat party and mainstream media (but I repeat myself) complicity in letting racist black Democrats get away with incendiary remarks that really are racially divisive – remarks that neither he, nor other prominent members of his party are keen to denounce because they’re so desperate to keep their hold on the black vote – so much so that they are willing to let racist members of their own party get away with demagoguing the issue and throwing out false accusations of racism against not just Republicans, but Democrats as well, when the occasion presents itself. Instead of denouncing the comments, lying hypocrites like Howard Dean display a cowardice far bigger than the earth’s so-called “carbon footprint” because allowing the comments to stand without tackling them head on just keeps the racial pot stirred and as a result, keeps people divided, and makes it harder to move foward beyond the racially divisive issues of the past.

We never see Obama denounce any of these [insulting] remarks [made by other Democrats about McCain], (heaven forbid he do so in front of a camera like McCain does) or ever call anyone out as inappropriate.

The DNC chops up McCain’s quote, and Obama doesn’t object. A liberal group makes a web ad mocking McCain’s age, and Obama doesn’t object. Jimmy Carter goes overseas to hug Hamas leaders, and Obama says he doesn’t approve, but he can’t do anything about it.

One guy says he’s going to unite the country, and is running on hope, but when his surrogates try to kneecap an opponent, we get these milquetoast disapproving statements from press aides. But when somebody on McCain’s team does something that’s even remotely controversial, the senator denounces it in front of the cameras.

One guy walks the walk, the other guy just talks the talk. And the frustrated independents, exhausted from nasty politics, will notice this.

He makes some good points, but I think McCain should have been more diplomatic on the ad rather than denounce it in the manner that he did. These issues speak to character, and as someone who is trying to, in part, make his character a selling point in his campaign, the Mc should understand why the Wright/Obama connection is an important one to explore and study. Not only that, but McCain’s still got his conservative base to worry about, and his forceful criticism of the ad did nothing to help on that front and in fact, may have hurt him some.

We’ve all been waiting breathlessly for the unvarnished truth from Barack Obama’s “former” pastor, and finally, he has delivered:

In his first wide-ranging interview since video clips of his inflammatory sermons were aired, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. defended himself over the controversy, saying that his words were twisted.

Mr. Wright, Senator Barack Obama’s former pastor, gave an interview to Bill Moyers on Wednesday, to air on PBS tomorrow.

[…]

Mr. Wright, who has acted as Mr. Obama’s spiritual mentor and retired in February as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, said that he has never heard Mr. Obama repeat any of his controversial statements.

“Absolutely not” Mr. Wright said. “I don’t talk to him about politics. And so he had a political event, he goes out as a politician and says what he has to say as a politician. I continue to be a pastor who speaks to the people of God about the things of God.”

“He’s a politician, I’m a pastor” he said. “We speak to two different audiences. And he says what he has to say as a politician. I say what I have to say as a pastor. But they’re two different worlds.”

He added, “I do what I do. He does what politicians do. So that what happened in Philadelphia where he had to respond to the sound bytes, he responded as a politician.”

No kiddin’! We’ve been saying that for months now, but we appreciate your “official” confirmation about the guy you spiritually mentored for 20 years. Thanks, Rev!

NC Cop sends along this link to a story about a disgusting Bush-hater who was arrested yesterday after allegedly assaulting an 18 year old girl in a wheelchair who has cerebral palsy:

A man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna outside the 92nd Street Y was arrested after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents has told him to shut up, authorities said yesterday. German Talis, 22, was shouting obscenities at the Bushes, who were leaving the building Tuesday, when he crossed paths with Wendy and John Lovetro and their daughter Maureen, 18, who has cerebral palsy.

[…]

“He began yelling about Iraq and Iran at Jenna Bush. She was waving at the crowd. I told the guy, ‘What are you doing? Shut up. This is about a child and books,’ ” said John Lovetro. “He was unperturbed. I said, ‘Get out of here! You’re being a moron!’ ”

The next thing he knew, Talis was allegedly punching Maureen – a fan of the first lady since meeting her in 2004.

“He punched her on the shoulder blades, but that wasn’t enough,” she said.

“My husband pushed the wheelchair away from him and he reached beyond my husband and began pounding my daughter in the thigh.”

The two men fought as the president’s family drove off. Cops broke them up and busted Talis on charges of assault and resisting arrest.

The website “We Are the Change” is claiming Lovetro was the one who attacked Talis and says Talis never raised a hand to anyone, but if the NY Post story is any indication, it looks like it’s Talis who was the aggressor. It wouldn’t be surprising, considering it’s been well documented how the far fringes of the left tend to get violent and aggressive when they think no one is buying their “message.”

Here’s one of the many fruit loopy things found on the home page of the We Are The Change website related to the incident:

Our proud member Gary, who was confronting Laura & Jenna Bush was threatened by an unknown individual. […]

Uh, why is it these nimrods think it’s acceptable to “confront” and yell at two people who did not make the decision to go to war with Iraq, nor issue warnings to Iran? Is there one functioning brain cell amongst these so-called “peaceful” groups?

In related news, the controversy surrounding the ad the Rev. Wright/Obama ad the NC GOP is preparing to run next week has boiled over to the point that apparently the state GOP office is under police protection. A reader sent me the following tip from fellow NC conservative Katy:

The state party is apparently receiving threats, as the Raleigh Police Department has been guarding NC GOP headquarters all day. The doors to the Hillsborough Street building are locked. After the firebombing of the same structure by anarchists a few years back, they’ve learned to expect the unexpected.

Katy also writes that contrary to media reports, the ad is *not* being pulled. Bravo! They still need help in keeping the ad on the air once it starts airing next week.